Pro Bono Help Needed Now More Than Ever

BY JANINE N. HOWARD-O’RANGERS, ESQUIRE,

THOMAS V. MCDONOUGH, ESQUIRE, AND JACQUELYN A. CHACONA, ESQUIRE T he impact that the coronavirus outbreak has had on our society is unprecedented in our lifetime. It has affected work and daily life for everyone. These are difficult and uncertain times for all of us. However, for those who struggle to afford basic necessities like food and shelter, victims of domestic violence who may now be confined to their homes with their abusers, and those who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic, the situation is worse.

There are still ways for pro bono attorneys to help at this time and when the state of emergency is lifted the pro bono opportunities will likely be almost limitless. The volunteer opportunities are essentially the same as before, but what has changed is the manner of delivering that help and the timing of cases. We need attorneys to assist victims of domestic violence with family law matters, tenants with landlord-tenant cases, the elderly and terminally ill with estate planning, and low income caregivers with guardianships.

Delaware Volunteer Legal Services (“DVLS”) is still placing cases with pro bono attorneys. The need for help with representation for Protection From Abuse (PFA) matters is constant. The Family Court has worked tirelessly to keep victims safe and is scheduling PFA matters twice a week primarily though telephonic hearings. The Court is also working towards conducting virtual hearings via videoconference as well. The Court has set up an email to receive evidence in those cases that have such a need.

Landlord-tenant cases are still coming in and we are still placing cases for people facing evictions and other landlord tenant matters. Though a suspension of evictions is in place now, once the Court begins to schedule those matters again we know the legal services agencies will be overwhelmed with cases. The Justice of the Peace Courts have indicated that eviction matters will receive scheduling priority when the courts re-open to the public.

The great need for representation of victims of domestic violence in custody and visitation cases continues. Much of the preparation in these cases can be done remotely so if your practice has slowed you can prepare the case now while you wait for a hearing date in the coming months. The same situation applies to representation in adult guardianship cases, with the ability to prepare now for a later hearing.

Legal Services Corporation of Delaware is preparing for a flood of unemployment benefit appeals which may exceed their capacity for representation. If that occurs, there may be an urgent need for volunteer attorneys to represent claimants.

There is much uncertainty about the long term effects of this pandemic on our communities. I think we can anticipate, however, that there will be a growing need for free legal services in many other areas as well such as bankruptcy and mortgage foreclosure. Given the high level of unemployment, there will be many more individuals eligible for free legal services. The legal services agencies are already only able to meet the legal needs of about 20 percent of the eligible population. We need your help now and for the foreseeable future more than ever. Please contact Tom McDonough at tmdconough@dvls.org to register as a volunteer and Jacki Chacona at jchacona@dvls.org if you are a current volunteer who wishes to accept a case.

Janine N. Howard-O’Rangers is the Executive Director at DVLS. She can be reached at jhoward@dvls.org. Thomas V. McDonough and Jacquelyn A. Chacona are Staff Attorneys at DVLS and can be reached at tmcdonough@dvls.org and jchacona@dvls.org.